While most Republicans are putting up a positive, pro-Trump front for the public, you don’t need to be a political expert to know that, in private, most of them are aware he had no business being “president” and his incompetence is not only a threat to the entire GOP, but the nation as a whole.

Unfortunately for all of us, most Republicans decided to put party over country by defending and supporting one of the biggest political mistakes in United States history.

Well, some light has been shed on some of the full-on panic many Republicans are privately experiencing right now after the Tucson Weekly obtained a leaked recording of Rep. Martha McSally (R-AZ) venting to a group of bankers that Trump’s erratic and unhinged behavior is threatening to sink the entire party:

Any Republican member of Congress, you are going down with the ship. And we’re going to hand the gavel to Pelosi in 2018, they only need 28 seats and the path to that gavel being handed over is through my seat. And right now, it doesn’t matter that it’s me, it doesn’t matter what I’ve done. I have an ‘R’ next to my name and right now, this environment would have me not prevail.

The environment has changed and some of it changed on January 20th. There’s just an element out there that’s just, like, so against the president. Like they just can’t see straight. And all of a sudden on January 20, I’m like his twin sister to them. And I’m, like, responsible for everything he does, and tweets and says. And they want me to be spending my time as a pundit. ‘I disagree with that. I agree with this.’ I have a job in the legislature!

She also told the crowd that Trump’s tweets are “distractions” that are causing voters to turn on Republican candidates and that her job has become far more difficult since he took office.

Understandably, McSally is rather flustered right now with polls showing over half the people in her district disapprove of her job performance, her approval rating is in the mid-30’s (much like Trump’s), and she’s losing to a hypothetical Democratic opponent by 7 points.

I’m sorry, but I don’t feel the least bit sorry for any Republican right now. During last year’s election they had a choice between embracing and defending one of the most vile and disgusting presidential candidates in U.S. history, or rejecting someone they knew was completely unfit, unqualified, and dangerous if he were to be elected “president.”

They chose to embrace and defend the reprehensible person who mocked POWs, defrauded Americans out of tens of thousands of dollars by setting up a fake university, belittled Gold Star parents, and was caught on video bragging about sexually assaulting women.

I don’t want to hear any whining about the repercussions that come along with that. They don’t get to distance themselves from the nightmare they helped bestow upon this country. They don’t get to complain because some voters want them to answer for the actions of the unqualified buffoon they helped get elected. They don’t get to say they’re willing to help pass Trump’s awful legislation, but don’t want voters to hold them accountable for doing so.

As I wrote just after last year’s election, Republicans defended, supported, and wanted Trump to be “president” — now they got him.

Allen Clifton is a native Texan who now lives in the Austin area. He has a degree in Political Science from Sam Houston State University. Allen is a co-founder of Forward Progressives and creator of the popular Right Off A Cliff column and Facebook page. Be sure to follow Allen on Twitter and Facebook, and subscribe to his channel on YouTube as well.